Qualities of Transformational Learning in the High School Orchestra Classroom: a Heuristic Study

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Fall 10-1-2019

Qualities of Transformational Learning in the High School Orchestra Classroom: A Heuristic Study

Linda F. Versprille Concordia University - Portland, [email protected]

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Ed.D. Dissertations Graduate Theses & Dissertations

Fall 10-1-2019

Qualities of Transformational Learning in the High School Orchestra Classroom: A Heuristic Study

Linda F. Versprille Concordia University - Portland

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Concordia University–Portland

College of Education

Doctorate of Education Program

WE, THE UNDERSIGNED MEMBERS OF THE DISSERTATION COMMITTEE

CERTIFY THAT WE HAVE READ AND APPROVE THE DISSERTATION OF

Linda Foy Versprille

CANDIDATE FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

Jillian Skelton, Ed.D. Faculty Chair Dissertation Committee

Judy Shoemaker, Ed.D. Content Specialist

Suzette Zientara, Ph.D. Content Reader

Qualities of Transformational Learning in the High School Orchestra Classroom:

A Heuristic Study

Linda Foy Versprille

Concordia University–Portland

College of Education

Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the College of Education

in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Doctor of Education in

Transformational Leadership

Jillian Skelton, Ed.D. Faculty Chair Dissertation Committee

Judy Shoemaker, Ed.D. Content Specialist

Suzette Zientara, Ph.D. Content Reader

Concordia University–Portland

2019

Abstract

High school orchestra students demonstrate a high degree of comfort in the orchestra classroom by spending out-of-class time in the room. Climate inventories do not address the constituents’ particular to the experience of the orchestra student. This heuristic phenomenological study explored the identification and description of qualities of transformational learning in the high school orchestra classroom that contributes to a positive classroom learning environment. Six seasoned high school orchestra directors with a minimum of ten years of experience participated in semistructured interviews to recall events during their high school years or as a teacher. Each was able to provide anecdotal details and characteristics to support the existence of four qualities of transformational learning in the orchestra classroom: belonging, flow, attunement, and identity development/self-actualization. The participants suggested sixteen practicing components that contributed to the description of events surrounding the transformational qualities: appropriate literature, challenge, choice, the expectation of excellence, intentionality, leadership, long-term relationships, mindfulness, movement, purpose, responsibility, ritual and tradition, set-apartness, trust, vocation, and work. These constituents along with the four main transformational qualities bore some alignment corresponding to Maslow (1970a, 1970b), but implied a more active component as the performance of music requires the player to replicate the events in concert with others.

Keywords: transformational learning, belongingness, flow, attunement, self-actualization

Dedication

This dissertation is dedicated to all who play and sing. We grow through delight.

That freedom, When l am really fully playing, I'm not thinking, There is a shift there that happens and it's really a bodily shift, Frontal lobe, the guard, fluid. There's an inner change, Everything flowing, That's when a shift can occur. When I'm letting go of outcome, Letting go. My challenge is to not hesitate, and take risks, and do certain things, Especially in my work. Playing in this way, with anything, Strengthens the ability to move, And flow, and take risks, and then inspire that in other people. It's rhythm, and rates, and ebbs, and flows, and waves, Magical sounds, Communicating.

I've got to be in the moment.

I think it informs relationships.

I like those moments.1

1 From Attunement: Embodied Transcendent Experience Explored through Sound and Rhythmic Improvisation (p.124), by M. Kossak, 2008, (Doctoral dissertation) Available from ProQuest Dissertation and Theses database. (UMI No.3295954) Reprinted with permission.

iii

Acknowledgements

I deeply appreciate the support of my husband, Craig Versprille, who never hesitated when I decided to pursue my doctorate at the age of 60. My children, Kristen Balkham, Abe Versprille, and Pat Versprille, are my inspiration. They, with their spouses, Brad, Lindsey, and Lindsay, are responsible for giving me the joys of my life, my grandchildren: Reese, Sawyer, Ella, Kate,

Brooks, and Sadler. This dissertation was not completed quickly because I never missed an opportunity to be their “NaNa.” To my chair, Dr. Jillian Skelton, thank you for being my cheerleader. I was blessed to have my committee, Dr. Judy Shoemaker, who introduced me to

Benjamin Zander, and Dr. Suzette Zientara, who marched through Mezirow along with my cohort. And, many thanks to Dr. Jennifer Collins and Dr. Christine Spear, my cohort members who were with me every step of the way.

Table of Contents

Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………………ii

Dedication…………………………...……………………………………………………………iii

Acknowledgements…………………………….……………………………...………………….iv

List of Tables………………...….………………………………………………………………..ix

List of Figures……………………………………………………………………….…………….x

Chapter 1: Introduction……….………………………………..………………………………….1

Background, Context, History, and Conceptual Framework for the Problem…….....……2

Statement of the Problem…………..…………………………………………...…………4

Purpose of the Study………………………………………………………………………5

Research Questions…………………………………………………………………..…....5

Rationale, Relevance, and Significance of the Study………………………….…….……6

Definition of Terms…………………….………………………….…………………..…..7

Assumptions, Delimitations, and Limitations……………………….………………………..…...8

Summary…………………………………………………..……………………….……...9

Chapter 2: Literature Review………………………………………………….……………..…..10

Conceptual Framework…………………………………………..………………………11

Review of Research Literature……………………………………..………………….…13

Inventories of classroom environment……………..……………………….……13

Ethnomusicological precepts and student responses……………..……….……..17

Theories of transformational learning………………...….………………………18

Theories of Positive Psychology…………………………………………………………29

Development of Identity and Musical Identity…………………………………………..31

Summary of the Literature……………………………………………………….32

Review of Methodological Issues………………………………………………………..32

Synthesis of Research Findings……………………………………..…………...………35

Critique of Previous Research……………………………………..…………………….37

Summary……………………………………………..………………………….……….38

Chapter 3: Methodology………………………………………………………………...…….…39

Research Questions………………………………………………………………..……..39

Purpose of the Study………………………………………………………………..……40

Research Design………………………………………..……………...……….…….…..41

Initial engagement………………….………………………………………...…..43

Immersion………………………………………………..………………………43

Incubation……………………………………………………………..…………43

Illumination……………………………………………………………...……….44

Explication………………………………………………………….…..………..44

Target Population and Sampling Method…………………………………..………..…..44

Instrumentation………………………………..………………………………………....46

Data Collection……………………………………………………..……………………46

Data Analysis Procedures……………………………………………………..…………47

Limitations and Delimitations of the Research Design………………………………….49

Reliability and Validity……………...…………………………………….……….…….49

Ethical Issues in the Study…………………………………………………..…………...51

Summary……………………………………………………..…………….………….…51

Chapter 4: Data Analysis and Results………………………………………………...……….…53

Pilot Study………………………………………………………..………………………55

Description of the Sample……………………………………………………..…………56

Research Methodology and Analysis…………………………………………….....……57

Summary of the Findings…………………………………………………..………….…58

Presentation of the Data and Results……………………………………….....…………60

Theme: belongingness……………………………...……………………………60

Theme: flow…………………………………………………..…………....…….85

Theme: attunement…………………………………………..………..……….…93

Theme: identity development/self actualization…………...……………..…….102

Obstacles………………………………………………………………...…..….111

Summary……………………………………………………………..…………………112

Chapter 5: Discussion and Conclusion…………………………………………………………114

Summary of the Results……………………………………………………………..….114

Discussion of the Results…………………………………………………..…...………118

Practical Implications………………………………………………………….………..125

Obstacles…………………………………………………………………………..……125

Discussion of the Results in Relation to the Literature…………………………...…….125

Limitations…………………………………………………………………...…………130

Implications of the Results for Practice, Policy, and Theory…………………………..131

Recommendations for Further Research………………………….………………….…132

Conclusion………………………………………………………………………..…….133

References…………………………………………………………………………………...….135

Appendix A: Statement of Original Work…………………………………………...…………147

vii

Appendix B: Permission to Reprint…………………………………………………………..149

viii

List of Tables

Table 1 Overview of Scales Contained in Nine Classroom Environment Instruments (Fraser,

1998)…………………………………………………………..…………………………………15

Table 2 Breakdown of Demographics……………………………………………………………57

Table 3 Transformational Themes and Practicing Components………………………………...59

Table 4 A Comparison of the Hierarchies of Needs versus Transformational Themes……..….128

List of Figures

Figure 1. Hierarchy of qualities of transformational learning………………………………….124

Figure 2. Hierarchy of Needs……………………..……………………………………………127

Chapter 1: Introduction

Teachers, like doctors, look at symptoms to make a diagnosis. Symptomatic of the high school orchestra student is their continual presence in the music room during off-class times.

Before school, after school, and during lunch, young musicians will gather, indicating a degree of confidence in their surroundings. What occurs during class to facilitate this desire to extend the experience to non-instructional time?

Qualities of transformational learning may be present in the corporate environment of the orchestra classroom but are likely to receive insufficient description by the teenage student.

Answers such as, “My friends are in my class,” “Orchestra is fun,” and “I like music” are possible teenage responses as to why they enjoy orchestra. However, these reactions may not be far off the mark. Mezirow (1991) spoke of transformation theory as “not so much what happens to people, but how they interpret and explain what happens to them that determines their actions, their hopes, their contentment, and emotional well-being, and their performance” (p. xiii). The orchestra teacher, having experienced the instrumental music classroom as both student and educator benefits from the reflective experience of adulthood and can assign meaning and importance to friends, fun, and music as transformational learning experiences.

In education courses, the aspirant teacher learns the importance of creating a safe environment for the student. Maslow (1962, 1970a, 1970b) explained that basic human needs must be satisfied before the student desires to strive toward self-actualization. The yearning to pursue “growth-through-delight” is found blossoming in the high school musician as they begin the unarticulated journey of reaching for personal potential (Maslow, 1962, loc. 751). This growth is occurring in the rehearsal, in lessons, and in the practice room. The type of

environment that describes the fostering of self-actualization, however, is not defined in the literature that quantifies positive classroom learning environments.

How, then, may we describe the transformational learning taking place in the orchestral class that drives the student to crave that atmosphere, creating an intrinsic draw? The teenage student may experience many aspects of positive psychology as they begin the self-actualization process. Peak experience or flow, belonging, identity development, attunement, and ritual are conventional components of the orchestra classroom experience. These qualities are not cataloged in classroom environment inventories but are likely to be some of the very elements that open the door to transformational learning. This study seeks to explore the qualities that lend themselves to fostering transformational learning in the high school string orchestra classroom.

Background, Context, History, and Conceptual Framework for the Problem

Quantification of learning environments began with Moos (1979). However, the business of learning environment inventory development started to appear in the research literature as

Fraser (1998) pioneered the journal, Learning Environments Research, which chronicled the use and development of classroom climate testing. Existant tools investigate the perceptions of teachers and students of the classroom environment using particular constructs within broad categories. Qualities measured include positive reinforcement, instructional presentation, goal setting, differentiated instruction, and formative assessment (Allodi, 2010; Fraser, 1998; Kohl,

Recchia, & Steffgen, 2013; Morin, Marsh, Nagengast, & Scalas, 2014; Nelson, Demers, &

Christ, 2014). These categories, while present in well-managed classrooms, do not represent the qualities of transformational learning. Differentiation in instruction, for example, rarely invokes the self-actualization process of growth through delight.

What qualities then, foster growth through delight, or learning that is transformational?

The consensus of thought espoused by writers on transformative learning is:

Teaching should no longer be thought an act of transferring knowledge from the teacher

to student, or of merely informing students of what they will need to get by in the world.

Rather, education should transform our relations to others, to ourselves, and to the world

around us. (Yacek, 2017, p. 6)

Yacek (2017) conducted a literature review making extensive use of German-language literature. In combination with English language literature, Yacek further outlined four distinct schools of thought on transformative learning. The first encountered is social justice education and contains an element of conversion, such as religious conversion. The second, Yacek terms a transformation of overcoming as taught by Mezirow (1991). The third form is paradigms of discovery as initiated by Erickson (1985) in which persons grow into transformation as part of stages of growth (Yacek, 2017). The fourth example of transformational learning is that of initiation promoted by neo-Artistotolean philosophers, such as Strike (2005) (Yacek, 2017).

However, proponents of transformational education are seeking to encourage research to reach some common language in prevailing theory (Cranton, 2016). The dark side of most versions of transformational learning is they carry with them a risk of the student experiencing internal crisis on the pathway to transformation, bringing up ethical questions regarding transformational learning. This facet of transformative education again begs the question, how do we learn through delight?

Authors of positive psychology tomes, Csikszentmihalyi (2013), Hallowell (2011),

Robinson (2011), and Seligman (2011), each touted enhanced connectivity, focus, and purpose as an extension of the self-actualization process. Belongingness, a concept introduced by Maslow

(1964, 1970a, 1970b) and given significance by Baumeister and Leary (1995) appeared in research by Parker (2016), and Rzonsa (2016) to emphasize the meaning of connection with others in ensemble experiences.

If the goal of learning is to become a person who has “full use of and exploitation of talents, capacities, potentialities, etc.” (Maslow, 1970a, p. 150), as Maslow described self- actualizing people, this seems an excellent place to begin to discover what this looks like in a high school orchestra classroom. Maslow cautioned that self-actualization occurs with the benefit of acquiring age and maturity. Maslow refers to young adults who seem to have developed some characteristics of self-actualization as healthy. Therefore high school students who are in the process of developing the communicative facility may not be adequately positioned to describe their experiences to a researcher.

If the high school student has not gained the self-reflective capacity to identify the qualities of transformational learning, then who can recognize the occurrences of these events?

Teachers who have experienced high school orchestra and had the benefit of reflective practice are in the best position to assign meaning to memories stemming from high school years as well as what happens daily in their music classrooms. Teachers with a minimum of 10 years of experience with high school students can look retrospectively at their students as multiple classes cycle through their programs.

Statement of the Problem

The literature regarding the evaluation of classroom climate or learning environment does not address the intrinsic draw of the music room. The long-term relationships between teachers and students merged, with the transformational benefits of learning and playing music, cannot be assessed with the use of existent climate measuring instruments. Preservice teacher education

admonishes future teachers to be cognizant of basic human needs found on the lower end of

Maslow’s (1962, 1970a, 1970b) continuum. However, the characteristics of growth-through- delight which occurs at the higher end of the spectrum receive scarce recognition.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this heuristic study was to identify the qualities of learning that affect classroom climate in the high school orchestra classroom. The intention was to interview five to seven high school orchestra teachers about their experiences with transformational learning in their orchestra classes. Teachers were asked to reminisce about encounters with characteristics of transformational learning across time as a student in addition to 10-plus years as a teacher. A researcher-created semistructured interview asked participants to recall occurrences of flow, creativity, personal and musical identity development, experiences with ritual and tradition, belongingness, connection, and attunement. The intent was to identify and describe qualities of transformational learning in the high school orchestra so that teachers may be cognizant of these events in their classroom environments.

Research Questions

The central research question of this study centers around the identification of qualities of transformational learning that are perceived to be present in the high school orchestra classroom.

According to Moustakas (1990), the interviewing process in heuristic research is one in which the researcher is open to all facets of the participant's experience with the phenomena under study. These facets may include, but not is limited to examples, events, situations, people, thoughts, feelings, shifts in bodily presence or state, and time and space factors. The researcher created semistructured interview questions designed to simultaneously educate participants about

the qualities of transformational learning that they may have experienced or witnessed students experiencing while drawing rich and vivid descriptions.

Central RQ: How do the qualities of transformational learning impact climate perceptions in the high school orchestra classroom?

RQ2: How do conditions of flow and creativity as described by Csikszentmihalyi (2013) affect climate perceptions in the high school orchestra classroom?

RQ3: How does the development of identity (Eaton, 2013; Maslow, 1962; Ståhlhammar,

2006), both musical and personal, impact climate perceptions in the high school orchestra classroom?

RQ4: How do musicological events (Morrison, 2001; Nettl, 1995), such as ritual and tradition, influence climate perceptions in the high school orchestra classroom?

RQ5: How do belongingness and connection (Hallowell, 2011; Parker, 2016: Rzonsa,

2016; Seligman, 2011) impact climate perceptions in the high school orchestra classroom?

RQ6: How does attunement (Kossak, 2008) impact climate perceptions in the high school orchestra classroom?

RQ7: What other qualities impact climate perceptions in the high school orchestra classroom?

Rationale, Relevance, and Significance of the Study

The significance of the study lies in the recognition that the climate of the orchestra classroom is not measurable using traditional learning environment instruments. An identification of the qualities of transformational learning that assist high school musicians as they grow toward self-actualization may help teachers recognize and foster those qualities in their classes (Cranton, 2016; Maslow, 1962, 1970a, 1970b; Mezirow, 1991; Schlitz, Vieten, and

Amorak, 2007; Sussman and Kossak, 2011; Yacek, 2017). Further studies may lead to the development of an instrument more appropriate to evaluate the climate of the high school orchestra class and implicate the environment in performing arts classes in general. The self- reflective teacher may use the glossary of qualities in the examination of the development of the self-actualized adult.

Definition of Terms

Attunement. A state of unification of body and mind within a communal experience:

A kinesthetic and emotional sensing of others—knowing their rhythm, affect and

experience by metaphorically being in their skin, and going beyond empathy to create a

two-person experience of unbroken feeling connectedness by providing a reciprocal

affect and/or resonating response. (Erskine, 1998, p. 236)

Belongingness. A state of belongingness occurs when two conditions are satisfied, according to Baumeister and Leary (1991). “First, there is a need for frequent, affectively pleasant interactions with a few other people, and, second, these interactions must take place in the context of a temporally stable and enduring framework of affective concern for each other's welfare” (p. 497).

Flow. A state of total focus in which “people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience itself is so enjoyable that people will do it at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it” (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990, p. 4). Also, described by Maslow as a peak experience (1962).

Mindfulness. Specific attention to consciousness:

Self-regulation of attention so that it is maintained on immediate experience, thereby

allowing for increased recognition of mental events in the present moment…adopting a

particular orientation toward one’s experiences in the present moment, an orientation that

is characterized by curiosity, openness, and acceptance. (Bishop et al., 2004, p. 232)

Purpose. Seen as distinct from the meaning of life. “A sense of core goals, direction in life, and enthusiasm regarding the future” (George & Park, 2013, p. 371).

Self actualization. A state of becoming in which a person experiences:

ongoing actualization of potentials, capacities and talents, as fulfillment of mission (or

call, fate, destiny, or vocation), as a fuller knowledge of, and acceptance of the person’s

own intrinsic nature, as an unceasing trend toward unity, integration or synergy within

the person. (Maslow, 1962, loc. 411)

Transformational learning. The process by which an individual discovers “a need to acquire new perspectives in order to gain a more complete understanding of changing events and a higher degree of control over their lives” (Mezirow, 1991, p. 3).

Assumptions, Delimitations, and Limitations

Assumptions consist of the willingness of participants to openly and honestly share experiences regarding their experiences regarding years spent as a student and a teacher in a high school orchestral setting. Another assumption was interviews would sufficiently generate rich descriptions of the phenomena. A final assumption was that the heuristic method of research would allow the experiences of the researcher to both educate and stimulate the conversational tone of the interviews to reach topic saturation.

Delimitations include the geographic boundaries placed on the study for convenience.

The selection of participants included teachers who have experienced a variety of geographic and cultural settings that lend perspectives to universality. The participants each had high school orchestral teaching experience for a minimum of 10 years.

Limitations of the study were time and geographic considerations related to the interview process. The researcher conducted three pilot interviews and six interviews in the heuristic process. The open-ended nature of the heuristic inquiry, must at some point end. The researcher must leave further study and codification of the phenomena to further research.

Summary

The current state of learning environment evaluation is suited to traditional classroom situations; however, it does not account for the types of transformational learning found in the high school orchestra class. Chapter 2 examines the literature summarizing characteristics evaluated with classroom climate assessment instruments and descriptions of qualities of transformative experience not considered in assessing an orchestra or other performing arts class.

Chapter 3 describes the heuristic research approach and details the specific research methods and protocols of this study. Chapter 4 details the findings and results of this study. Chapter 5 seeks to ascribe meaning to the findings, implications for further research, and conclusion.

Chapter 2: Literature Review

In high school, in addition to class time, the researcher found herself in the orchestra room before school, during lunch, and after school. As a high school orchestra teacher, the students in the researcher’s classes subscribe to the same practice. Why is the orchestra room a place of comfort for students enrolled in performance-based classes? How can teachers use this information to create a climate that welcomes students?

Two articles and a book spurred an interest to look for answers to this question. Allodi

(2010) developed a classroom environment inventory that characterized some, but not all, of the factors that initially seem to draw students to feel comfortable in the music room. Adderly,

Kennedy, and Berz (2003) addressed some musical reasons that students felt at home in the music classroom by asking students why they chose to study music and why they remain enrolled in classes when there are many demands on their time. Hallowell (2011) introduced a model for workplaces built on the premise that people who are happy at work are more creative and productive. Hallowell’s concept is that people who do what they like and are good at, are connected with others, incorporate play into work, focus while working, and are rewarded for their efforts experience a positive work environment.

Current trends in positive psychology also connect with factors about why students are drawn to socialize, practice, study, and hang out in the rooms of their music teachers. Many of these theories harken directly back to Maslow (1962, 1970a, 1970b). Happiness, or sense of well-being, as outlined by Seligman (2011), is indicated by positive emotion, engagement, meaning, positive relationships, and accomplishment. Each of these qualities is integral to the routine functioning in the music room, while fulfilling many of the basic human needs detailed by Maslow. Specifically, engagement, which is described by Csikszentmihalyi (1990, 2004,

2013, 2014a, 2014b) as flow indicates a hyper-focused state in which one experiences time as suspended. Belongingness theory, introduced by Baumeister and Leary (1995) addressed the sense of community fostered in the music room. This researcher believes each of these aspects flourishes in the community of students that reside in high school music classrooms. The specific goal of this study is to identify those most qualities most applicable to the music student.

Conceptual Framework

The study of learning environments and the development of instruments to measure them has been a topic of interest for educators beginning in the 1990s (Fraser, 1998). These tools are useful as a source of data for reflective teacher practices (Aldridge, Fraser, Bell, & Dorman,

2012). Input from both educators and students measure perceived as well as preferred characteristics of the classroom climate. Characteristics studied typically include student cohesiveness, teacher support, involvement, personal relevance, task orientation, cooperation, equity, differentiation, young adult ethos, formative assessment, and clarity of evaluation criteria.

However, none of these models serve to evaluate what occurs explicitly to build a music room environment. As early as 1981, Hylton was striving to identify dimensions in the high school choir such as achievement, spiritualistic, musical-artistic, communicative, psychological, and integrative. By 2001 however, Morrison had cited characteristics identifying musical cultures determined by ethnomusicologists such as identity, transmission, social dimension, practical and personal boundaries, organizational hierarchy, traditional song, performance practices, diaspora, and initiation. Stålhammar (2006) introduced the development of musical identity, viewing it as an extension of cultural identity that bears examination in combination with ethnomusicological studies.

More recent studies by Adderly et al. (2003) and Allodi (2010) led parallel investigations.

Adderly et al. (2003) attempted through a series of interviews with the band, orchestra, and chorus students at one high school to codify characteristics that contribute to a sense of home in the music room. This study, based on the previous findings of Hylton (1981), Morrison (2001),

Conway and Borst (2001), and Kennedy (2002) inquired to see what qualities contributed to retention in music performance classes. Allodi (2010) did a study to create a new learning environment inventory tool, Goals and Values in Schools (GAVIS), which contributed new dimensions to the analysis of classroom climate: creativity, stimulation, achievement, self- efficacy, safety, control, helpfulness, participation, responsibility, and influence. Allodi (2010) called for studies in other cultural contexts, the music classroom of the high school performing ensemble qualifies as a context in which to identify music-centric dimensions.

Theories of transformative learning seek to examine the way the adult, or nearly adult, come to make meaning in their lives. Building on Mezirow (1991), researchers seek to break down the processes the learner uses to discard old preconceptions and replace them with renewed views and values. The rational discourse of Mezirow’s constructivist approach now exists side- by-side with more humanistic extrarational experiences, and events that have applications in the arts (Maslow, 1970a, 1970b).

Positive psychology meets transformational learning at this juncture. Researchers began studies that explored separate humanistic events. The theory of belongingness, as outlined by

Baumeister and Leary (1995), may have implications in the music room. Rzonsa (2016) conducted a narrative study describing the meaning that orchestra generated in himself and two other participants as laid out in Baumeister and Leary (1995). In this study, Rzonsa called for more direct research connecting belongingness theory to music organizations. Somers (1999)

developed a 140-item measure of belongingness, similar in format to classroom environment inventories. Identification of constructs particular to the music class for use by music educators that would incorporate environment and belongingness measures could result in reflective practices and improvement of learning environments.

Review of Research Literature

The research literature falls into several categories. First, the creation of classroom environment inventories provided a listing of characteristics of qualities found in positive classroom climates based on quantitative research. Second, studies that explored the environment found in music classrooms based on ethnomusicological precepts plus student and teacher responses to questionnaires and interviews. Third, the study of transformational learning. Fourth, the development of positive psychology theories and associated theories such as belongingness theory, sense of well-being, and flow. Fifth, the attainment of a musical and psychosocial identity. The task then is to discover common ground found in the confines of the high school performance ensemble classroom.

Inventories of classroom environment. An inventory of the classroom environment presents constructs believed to be relevant to contributing to a positive learning climate.

Teachers and students participating in such a survey are asked to evaluate on a Likert scale how strongly each of the characteristics appears in the classroom (Maat, Adnan, Abdullah, Amad, &

Puteh, 2015). Additionally, there exists research on instruments that also inquire as to what environmental characteristics students might prefer, comparing those characteristics with a perceived enviroment (Bell & Aldridge, 2014). The inventories of learning climates that received quantitative verification of validity are a reliable place to begin looking into the features of positive environments.

Starting with the Allodi (2010) study that provided a starting point in this research into classroom climate inventories research, citations pointed back to Fraser (1981, 1982, 1998) whose work was instrumental in the field of learning climate inventories that he pioneered the journal Learning Environments Research in 1998. He penned the lead-off article in that journal, which provided a status of the development of instruments thus far. Fraser (1981) stated, “The field of classroom environment is now firmly established through recent key publications including two books (Moos, 1979; Walberg, 1979)” (p. 3). These two authors, together with

Fraser, provide the foundation for classroom environment study.

Fraser (1982) traced the earliest beginning of the field to Hemphill and Westie (1950), whose ideas served as the basis for an evaluation of Harvard Project Physics (Anderson &

Walberg, 1968). The student evaluation of this project was deemed necessary both as a money- saving tactic and as a way to assess factors of the program that could not be readily discerned by classroom observations. The Classroom Climate Questionnaire was the first step toward developing the Learning Environment Inventory (LEI) prepared by Anderson and Walberg in

1974. This instrument and the Classroom Environment Scale (CES) by Trickett and Moos in

1973 were identified by Fraser (1982) as the most-used first inventories. Some of the scales measured dimensions such as cohesiveness, diversity, formality, speed, material environment, friction, goal direction, favoritism, difficulty, apathy, democracy, cliqueness, satisfaction, disorganization, and competitiveness.

A shift in instruction style from conventional classrooms to individualized instruction caused Fraser (1981) to lament the applicability of scales such as competition, formality, and difficulty. To adjust to new trends in education, Fraser introduced the Individualized Classroom

Environment Questionnaire (ICEQ) in 1981. To differentiate individualized from traditional

instruction, Fraser added criteria such as Personalization, Participation, Independence,

Investigation, and Differentiation. By 1998 and the introductory article in Learning

Environments Research Fraser (1998) was able to categorize the scales in nine classroom environment inventories (see Table 1). Since that time, the field saw the development of multiple other instruments, but none that addresses the climate particular to the music performance

Table 1

Overview of Scales Contained in Nine Classroom Environment Instruments (Fraser, 1998)

Scales classified according to Moos’s scheme

Instrument Level Items per Relationship Personal System Scale dimensions development maintenance and dimensions change dimensions

Learning Secondary 7 Cohesiveness Speed Diversity Environment Friction Difficulty Formality Inventory Favoritism Competitiveness Material (LEI) Cliqueness environment Satisfaction Goal direction Apathy Disorganization Democracy Classroom Secondary 10 Involvement Task orientation Order and Environment Affiliation Competition organization Scale (CES) Teacher support Rule clarity Teacher control Innovation Individualize Secondary 10 Personalization Independence Differentiation d Classroom Participation Investigation Environment Questionnaire (ICEQ) My Class Elementary 6-9 Cohesiveness Difficulty Inventory Friction Competitiveness (MCI) Cohesiveness Friction

Table Continued Instrument Level Items per Relationship Personal System Scale dimensions development maintenance and dimensions change dimensions Questionnaire Secondary/ 8-10 Helpful/friendly Leadership on Teacher Primary Understanding Student Interaction Dissatisfied responsibility (QTI) Admonishing and freedom Uncertain Strict Science Upper 7 Student Open-endedness Rule clarity Laboratory Secondary/ cohesiveness Integration Material Environment Higher environment Inventory Education (SLEI) Constructivist Secondary 7 Personal Critical voice Student Learning relevance Shared control negotiation Environment Uncertainty Survey (CLES) What Is Secondary 8 Student Investigation Equity Happening in cohesiveness Task orientation This Teacher support Cooperation Classroom Involvement (WIHITC)

Allodi (2010), who wrote the original article that stimulated this research, added scales that included: Creativity, Stimulation, Achievement, Efficacy, Safety, Control, Helpfulness,

Participation, Responsibility, and Influence. These scales relate to Moos (1979) schemes of relationship dimensions, personal development dimensions, and system maintenance and change dimensions. This inventory can provide valuable feedback to the teacher in a core subject classroom but is unlikely to explain the phenomena of the feeling of home that often exists in the music performance class.

A more current investigation of learning environment research indicated through a Boolean search that topics of orchestra, music, and transformative or transformational learning had not been undertaken in the journal dedicated to that topic. As a demonstration of inapplicability to the orchestra classroom, one team targeted a 1993 instrument dedicated to differentiation, discovering

that methods such as seatwork and worksheets used in that decade are no longer considered best practice in today’s flipped classroom (Pereira, Tay, Maeda, & Gentry, 2019). Differentiation for the orchestra teacher still occurs while teaching four different instruments in the same classroom at the same time.

Ethnomusicological precepts and student responses. Ethnomusicology is described as a combination of the study of music and anthropology within the context of a culture or subculture (Nettl, 1995). One may gain a clearer understanding of the dynamics of the high school performing ensemble when viewed more as a culture than as a class. Morrison (2001) remarked:

By recognizing school music programs as real musical cultures, educators may better

articulate the value of performance in students’ development, better understand the

program qualities that students value, and better choose future directions for an ensemble

program’s structure and content. (p. 24)

Nettl (1995) stated that “one significant way to comprehend a culture is to find dominant themes that exhibit themselves in a variety of cultural domains and behavior patterns” (p. 6). What themes lend themselves to viewing the performance ensemble as a culture? Morrison (2001) suggested identity, transmission, social dimension, practical and personal boundaries, organizational hierarchy, traditional song, performance practices, diaspora, and initiation as themes to investigate.

Due to these thematic suggestions, Adderly et al. (2003) interviewed 60 students in the chorus, band, and orchestra regarding their motivation to join a musical ensemble. Also questioned were the perceptions of the group by members and the school community, the meaning and value that members derived from their participation in music performance

organizations, and the social climate within the group. Adderly et al. (2003) stated that students varyingly viewed their particular performance unit as a “class like any other classroom, a home away from home, a club, a family, or something unlike anything else they had experienced at this particular school” (p. 203). The emphasis on the ethnomusicological dimensions of identity and social climate/ aspect in the culture of the music ensemble lead to the investigation of transformative learning with an emphasis on positive psychology, belongingness theory, and development of musical and personal identity.

Theories of transformational learning. Transformative learning, or transformational learning in this study, is a relatively new field in learning, dating back only around 40 years.

Cranton and Taylor (2012) summarized the writings of Mezirow, who took a constructivist point of view:

We uncritically assimilate perspectives from our social world, community, and culture.

Those perspectives include distortions, stereotypes, and prejudices. They guide our

decision making and our actions until we encounter a situation that is not congruent with

our expectation. At that point, we may reject the discrepant perspective or enter into a

process that could lead to a transformed perspective. (p. 6)

Rational meets extrarational. In research on transformative learning, all roads lead back to Mezirow (1991). In the most basic model of transformational learning, each individual has a meaning perspective based on ideas encountered through cues, models, and language.

Invalidated presuppositions are reflected upon by the learner and either confirmed or transformed. Learning occurs in three domains, the first being instrumental learning, an example being cause and effect. This researcher relates the term to the ways the learner begins to play their instrument, a finger placed on a particular string will result in a specific note. The second

domain of learning, according to Mezirow, is communicative, in which one understands what others mean and conveys meaning in return. Optimally, as taught by Mezirow, this takes place in the manner of rational discourse. The third way of learning is emancipatory, actively pursuing changes that need to be brought on by critical self-reflection. Reflection takes on three forms as well. Content reflection is the description of a problem, similar to fact-checking. In process reflection or problem-solving:

We reflect to find similarities and differences between what we are currently

experiencing and prior learning—to identify principles, make generalizations, identify

patterns of data, select appropriate ways of expressing our concepts, create metaphors for

extending meaning beyond the data as given, and decide on next steps. (pp. 104-105)

Premise reflection presupposes the question of why we should care about the issue. Reflection of a premise might assess the “validity of norms, roles, codes, “common sense,” ideologies, language games, paradigms, philosophies, or theories that we have taken for granted” (p. 105).

This capsule explanation of Mezirow’s early theory is a valid starting point to track changes and additions to the theory. In a testament to the validity of the process, Mezirow did evolve over the years, becoming more inclusive of additions to the precepts of transformative learning.

In 2005 at the Sixth International Transformative Learning Conference, John M. Dirkz and Jack Mezirow participated in a pivotal conversation about the integration of theories. The dialogue between Mezirow and Dirkz at this conference was the first step in reconciling theories.

This event signified the introduction of extrarational theory into the canon of conversation about transformational learning. Mezirow allowed that in addition to rational discourse, “Most of the process of learning occurs outside of awareness and may include emotional, intuitive, symbolic,

imaginistic, and/or contemplative modes of learning” (Dirkz, Mezirow, & Cranton, 2006, p.

124). He also listed collective contexts of transformational learning identified at that conference:

• adult development, psychological and spiritual

• ideology

• psychotherapy

• religion

• health

• art

• higher and adult education and popular education

• family

• social action

• community

• social movements

• organizations

• disabilities

• mentoring

• conflict resolution

• race, gender, and class

• democratic citizenship

• intercultural contexts (p. 124)

Mezirow concluded this portion of his remarks by drawing the line at the importance of the rational aspects of transformational learning:

My take on this is that it is important to recognize and understand how learning is shaped

outside awareness, but the essential dimension of any definition of transformative

learning…must include explicit recognition of the foundational process, within

awareness, involving critical assessment of epistemic assumptions. (p. 125)

Dirkz (2006) responded to Mezirow by confirming that his expansion on theory was consistent with the works of Mezirow (1991) while viewing transformative learning as soul work or inner work:

This view suggests a more integrated and holistic understanding of subjectivity, one that

reflects the intellectual, emotional, moral, and spiritual dimensions of our being in the

world. This integrated view also seeks to account for the ways in which the social,

cultural, and embodied as well as the deeply personal and transpersonal aspects of our

being potentially play out in the process of transformative learning. (Dirkz, 2006, p. 125)

Dirkz (2006) put forth the idea of subjective exploration of the inner world, not only those parts of self that exist purely in the conscious world, as well as those parts of self that exist in foggy semiconsciousness. Dirkz described a sense of consciousness as that which “continuously nag me with questions about the meaning of my life, of the work that I do, of relationships. It calls into question my authenticity, my integrity, at times my very sense of who I think I am” (p. 127).

In contrast with the turbulence of the questioning sense of consciousness, Dirkz described an inner world that is:

A place of rest, peace, a kind of sacred sanctuary. At times, it conveys to me a visceral

understanding of the beauty and mystery that is our being in the world, a depth of

acknowledgment that sends chills through my shoulders and down my spine and raises

bumps on the surface of my skin. (p. 127)

Art, music, drama, film, and poetry may reveal this world. Dirkz (2006) stated that this inner world integrates with what we experience outside through curricular and pedagogical experiences. Dirkz insisted, “This perspective on transformative learning directs us to both the process and the outcomes of learning, but it insists that we think of transformative learning as a kind of stance toward one’s being in the world” (p. 128). At this point, the learner is no longer working to fulfill a checklist, get a grade, or a certification. Dirkz reframed the meaning of transformative learning to include a holistic sense of the person. Contrasting Mezirow’s concept of epochal events that lead to transformation, Dirkz (2006) asked:

How might we begin to understand what is involved in developing a relationship with the

self-in-the-world that begins to see this everyday world as an enchanted place, a place of

wonder, mystery, and awe? It is the everydayness of our lives that provides the canvas on

which we create, each moment of each day, the forms and structures of meaning that

make up who we are and what it means to us to be in and of the world. This everyday

world serves as a mirror that reflects back to us our deepest wishes, longings, desires,

fears, hopes, dreams, and anxieties. These kinds of learning experiences result in less

clear or dramatic consequences or consequences that may not be immediately apparent.

Yet even the most seemingly mundane kinds of learning experiences can offer an

opportunity to feel deeply engaged and drawn into powerful experiences that fully

capture their intellectual and emotional attention. (p. 133)

Dirkz (2006) concluded his remarks to say that at times, the conversation about transformative learning is about the outcomes or consequences, and sometimes it is more about the process.

However, it is difficult for the learner to know if he/she is in the midst of a transformative event, that it is only in retrospect that one realizes it was transformational.

In the meeting of theories, Mezirow (2006) affirmed Dirkz, “It is an excellent summary of an elusive but obviously significant dimension of transformative learning” (p. 133). Mezirow continued to clarify that the critical assessment of outcomes is what “saves transformative learning from becoming reduced to a faith, prejudice, vision, or desire” (p. 133). Mezirow (2006) concluded by stating that meaningful theories of transformative learning should contain both dimensions of learning by bringing the extrarational into the conscious for rational assessment.

Dirkz (2006) articulated the critical differences between theories summarizing Mezirow’s theory as occurring as the individual senses a disruption in their meaning perspective. Through a rational process of self-reflection and critical discourse, the individual either makes a change or confirms their perspective. However, Dirkz advocated, in addition to Mezirow’s theory, “an imaginal approach to connecting and developing a conscious relationship with emotionally charged aspects of experience that remain unconscious and unavailable to everyday awareness…an integration of mind and soul” (p. 137). This conversation between master theorists propels the researcher into the beginning of being able to identify the types of transformational learning that heuristic inquiry indicates exists.

Second wave transformational learning. Since the 2005 meeting of Mezirow and Dirkz, researchers have expanded that understanding to include more humanistic applications. Initially, pioneers in transformational learning discounted departures from Mezirow that did not contain critical discourse as the essential element. Gunnlaugson (2008), one of the first to acknowledge that the field was growing more diverse, termed the two schools of thought first wave, “literature attempts to build on, critique, or depart from Mezirow’s seminal account” (p. 124) and second wave which included newer expansions on theoretical perspectives viewed as more, “integrative, holistic, and integral” (p. 124).

While the second wave appears most applicable to this study, there exist cautions from those who were instrumental authors from the first wave of the transformative learning movement. Brookfield (2000) cautioned against the “misuse of the word transformation to refer to any instance in which reflection leads a deeper, more nuanced understanding of assumptions”

(p. 139). In order to assure new research maintains utility and validity, Cranton and Taylor

(2012) insisted that researchers ground themselves in the primary literature, “only through a thorough review of primary sources can scholars do research that both makes a significant contribution to the field and helps to continue an in-depth theoretical analysis of transformative learning” (p. 13). This researcher takes this caution to heart in order to make a logical connection between what happens in the orchestra classroom and transformational learning.

It is within the theories of extrarational and noetic experiences that the orchestra student experiences transformational learning. Cranton and Taylor (2012) made the distinction that transformational learning is not a series of instructional strategies that transformational learning is not a series of instructional strategies, instead, “It is first and foremost about educating from a particular educational philosophy, with its own assumptions about the purpose of education, the role of the educator, and the nature of knowledge” (p. 15). It is with this in mind that is was necessary during the research and coding phase to differentiate between strategies or practicing components and events that foster transformational learning.

Consciousness studies. Transformative learning has increasingly taken on characteristics of consciousness studies. Wilber (2000) delineated the roles of consciousness as developmental lines:

The functions of consciousness include perceiving, desiring, willing, and acting. The

structures of consciousness, some facets of which can be unconscious, include body,

mind, soul, and spirit. The states of consciousness include normal (e.g., waking,

dreaming, sleeping) and altered (e.g., nonordinary, meditative). The modes of

consciousness include aesthetic, moral, and scientific. The development of consciousness

spans an entire spectrum from prepersonal to personal to transpersonal, subconscious to

self-conscious to superconscious, id to ego to Spirit. The relational and behavioral aspects

of consciousness refer to its mutual interaction with the objective, exterior world and the

sociocultural world of shared values and perceptions. (loc. 212-220)

Wilber’s explanation from the viewpoint of integral psychology breaks down the roles that consciousness takes in the act of transformational learning.

Interestingly, in an article, “The Wisdom of the Inner Life: Meeting Oneself Through

Meditation and Music,” authors Sussman and Kossak (2011) drew parallels between Battista’s

(1996) eight-stage model of achieving consciousness and Maslow’s (1962) description of peak experience:

Level one involves pure physical interaction, level two involves perception through

sensory data, and level three includes affects that function as conscious drives. In the

fourth level he states that emotions are embodied. Reflective awareness or cognition is a

fifth level of consciousness, and the sixth level is self-awareness, in which cognition can

be operated on in the imagination. The seventh level refers to information about self-

awareness, or the awareness of being aware, and the eighth level involves the universe as

a whole or a transcendent consciousness.

Maslow also includes embodied awareness in his descriptions of peak

experiences. According to Maslow, in this framework one may feel lifted out of oneself,

in the flow of things, self-fulfilled, engaged in optimal functioning, and filled with a

sense of connectivity to self and the world. (pp. 57–58)

Maslow later gave full attention to the description of peak experience, or flow as Maslow referred to the “irreducible, intrinsic values of this reality” (1970b, p. 91). Qualities perceived in peak experience listed by Maslow could include truth, goodness, beauty, wholeness, dichotomy- transcendence, aliveness, uniqueness, perfection, necessity, completion, justice, order, simplicity richness, effortlessness, playfulness, and self-sufficiency. These descriptors in peak experiences are qualities that could lead to the emergence of the musician’s level of comfort found in the music room.

Beyond the concept of peak experience or flow, Sussman and Kossak (2011) also describe attunement or entrainment attained through the practice of playing music. Attunement is

“most often talked about in the scientific literature in reference to resonant fields rhythmically synchronizing together, such as brain waves, circadian rhythms, lunar and solar cycles, breathing, circulation” which reinforces the musicians' concept of unification of mind, body, and spirit (p. 58). “We have found this helps free one from the mind mesh of continuous and random mental activity, with a shift from content to process leading to a sense of self-witnessing or the awareness of being aware” (p. 61). Students refer to this a getting away or putting the rest of the school day behind them, reinforcing student’s intrinsic draw to the comfort of the music room.

Slow attainment of transformational experience and practice. Tidwell (2012) made a point that not all transformational experiences are epochal. She delineated between those experiences which change core aspects of identity and those which slowly transpose us.

Integrated together over time, however, such moments that transpose our consciousness

can often—even on a daily basis, if we seek out such changes in consciousness through

meditation or other active efforts at living more deeply—act as part of . . . the integrating

circumstance(s) of the transformative learning process. (p. 22)

Musically speaking, the thing that musicians do on a daily basis is practice.

In the noetic tradition, Schlitz et al. (2007) carried out one of the most extensive studies achieved on consciousness and transformation.

Our single-minded focus was on the phenomenon of experiences people have, and

practices they engage in, that stimulate and sustain a new worldview that may best be

described as positive consciousness transformation on the phenomenon of experiences

people have, and practices they engage in, that stimulate and sustain a new worldview

that may best be described as positive consciousness transformation. (p. 9)

This study utilized hundreds of stories, focus groups, interviews, and over 900 surveys. The authors shared, “Transformation is something that you grow into. As your path deepens over time, a reciprocal interaction takes place between your inner subjective experiences of contemplation and self-inquiry and your more outward practices and actions” (p. 206).

Regarding practice, the elements shared by Schlitz et al. (2007) carry the same components as productive musical practice. “What we learned is that transformative practices include four essential elements: intention, attention, repetition, and guidance” (p. 93). The connection between practice for transformation and practice for musical performance carries many of the same outcomes:

As you become an active participant in the transformative process and your own

evolution, the separation between your practice and the rest of your life begins to

dissolve. You start to see your own transformative journey in the context of the

transformation of your community, and of the world . . . . You may experience a greater

sense of belonging and a greater capacity for compassion. It is also possible that you will

experience a call to service. And, more and more often you may have a sense of deep

love—of the sacred, of the mystery and beauty that permeates even the simplest

moments. (p. 207)

As the learner practices toward higher technical proficiency and more musical performance, they commit themselves to a practice that demands reflection. The byproducts may be the small transpositional learning experiences that lead to transformation.

Indoctrination. A recent addition to the body of knowledge came through Yacek’s

(2017) doctoral dissertation that distill transformative learning into four paradigms: conversion, overcoming, discovery, and indoctrination. In the conversion paradigm, whether in the context of religion or social justice, the learner must come to believe that something is deeply wrong with the self or the world, must confront the “ideologies, emotional conditionings, prejudices and predispositions that perpetuate inequality and injustice” (p. 40). Since the learner feels profoundly changed, they resultantly feel that they must convert the world to their new way of thinking. The writings of Mezirow (1991) typified the overcoming paradigm focusing on personal liberation. The discovery paradigm shares a sense of “something gone awry in the development of the individual” with the overcoming paradigm (Yacek, 2017, p. 57). The discovery paradigm, however, believes the educator should foster normal and healthy growth in the learner. There are also parallels between the discovery paradigm and scientific inquiry.

The initiation paradigm is quite different. According to Yacek (2017), “the quality that sets the initiation paradigm apart from previous paradigms is the role that the concept of a practice plays in its proponents’ understanding of the educational process” (p. 73). Practice

involves the mastery of sophisticated skills. Whether the skill is golf, playing an instrument, or writing, access to the desired skill is unreachable without practice.

Master practitioners are simultaneously exemplars of the aesthetic dispositions and

ethical worldviews that unlock the inner joy of their practice, as well as defenders of their

practice from social conditions or technologies that would endanger this peculiar form of

joy. (Yacek, 2017, p. 75)

As the word initiation implicates, the specific practice is a club. Through the enthusiasm of other practitioners, new practitioners receive initiation into the club (Strike, 2005). Yacek (2017) pointed out that educators frame their pedagogy with the initiation in mind creating fewer misunderstandings as to the intent. The string instrument teacher may say, “Please join the orchestra; you will learn how to play an instrument; you will need to practice. Practicing with friends is fun.” The intent of this invitation is clear, and the pedagogy is relational.

Additionally, Yacek (2017) stated that “the roles of ritual, tradition and rites of passage, which are quite salient in accounts of initiation processes outside the educational context, are perhaps not given as much attention as they might deserve from defenders of the initiation paradigm” (p. 79). Rite and tradition play into the development of musical communities, as previously stated in the literature review. This view of transformational learning deserves expanded attention from the community of music educators. The enthusiasm with which the educator draws the student to the practice of musicianship leads directly to the effects of positive psychology.

Theories of positive psychology. Positive psychology or studies of happiness or well- being frame much of life. Why not choose to be happy in any pursuit one undertakes? Seligman

(2011) offered the dimensions of positive emotion, engagement, meaning, positive relationships,

and accomplishment that are signposts of well-being. We have already identified positive relationships as a critical factor in positive learning climates. Students in Adderly et al. (2003) defined the social environment as a significant reason for why they feel the music room is a home away from home. The necessity of belongingness, theorized by Baumeister and Leary

(1995) must fulfill two functions. “First, there is a need for frequent, affectively pleasant interactions with a few other people, and, second, these interactions must take place in the context of a temporally stable and enduring framework of affective concern for each other's welfare” (Baumeister & Leary, 1995, p. 497). In a dissertation, Somers (1999) provided a series of scales to measure belongingness. These scales also referred to the circumstances under which the participant experienced them: whether they were passive or active in initiating the values of connectedness or/and esteem, may these qualifications present in the music room? Rzonsa

(2016) said yes in a narrative study of belongingness in the orchestra.

I have learned that musical groups are ideal settings in which to study sense of belonging

due to the close-knit bonds that can so easily form and the intimate nature of performing

alongside others who share an appreciation of music. (Rzonsa, 2016, p. 132)

Additionally, Rzonsa (2016) reflected on a feeling of responsibility to stay connected to the group, reflecting Morrison’s (2001) sense of diaspora when one was compelled to leave. The value of belongingness in the orchestra, according to Rzonsa (2016) was “a wealth of benefits stemming from the sense of belonging experienced by the participants, including joy, security, improved sound quality, and responsibility” (p. 140). Joy is another term to describe happiness or well-being.

“Twenty-three hundred years ago Aristotle concluded that, more than anything else, men and women seek happiness” (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990, p. 1). In his explanation of the acquisition or choice of happiness, Csikszentmihalyi stated:

We have all experienced times when, instead of being buffeted by anonymous forces, we

do feel in control of our actions, masters of our own fate. On the rare occasions that it

happens, we feel a sense of exhilaration, a deep sense of enjoyment that is long cherished

and that becomes a landmark in memory for what life should be like. (p. 1)

This optimal experience is directly related to experiencing engagement and meaning, which leads to accomplishment, espoused by Seligman (2011). Csikszentmihalyi (1990) termed this experience “flow” (p. 4). Artistry in music is difficult to achieve without a period of total commitment. Flow bears investigation as an essential dimension in the performance ensemble.

Development of identity and musical identity. Identity, like many other dimensions of this study, owes a debt of gratitude to Maslow (1962). Flow, as described by Csikszentmihalyi

(1990), is viewed as an optimal experience. According to Maslow (1962), a person who is engaged in a peak experience feels most authentically themselves. Other studies have a different view of identity development. Rich and Schachter (2012) linked identity development in a high school with the degree that the teacher provides a role model and is a caring individual. Also,

Rich and Schachter (2012) felt that the school environment should provide some opportunities for exploration other than strictly academic offerings. In this study of students enrolled in a public Jewish high school in Israel, the prospects for exploration could be construed as religious.

The researcher would find applicability in offerings of performance ensemble experiences, as well as the other courses available in most American high schools.

Developing a musical identity, according to Stålhammar (2006), requires us to

“investigate the unclear area where teaching and aesthetics meet” (p. 8). The commercial music industry, a student’s cultural background, and the instruction a student receives in various more formalized contexts all play in acquiring a musical identity. Stålhammar pointed out that for young people, there is a gap between their experiences with music and what they learn in school.

“Whilst their own music is bound up with identity and lifestyle, that of the school is for the most part bound up with the subject Music” (p. 231). He encouraged teachers to become co-creators with students:

Knowledge and experience of both parties must be taken into account, which further

implies that the main focus of music teaching will not be on music as an independent

artifact but on people’s relation to music and experience of it. For young people music

and identity go together. (Stålhammar, 2006, p. 232)

Ethnomusicology provided a glimpse into the culture that is created around music. The study of musical identity is many times so culturally specific that the breadth of that study requires research on it’s own terms and is experienced by the young musician in situations outside of the orchestra classroom. While alternative styles of orchestral music are growing in popularity within the teaching community and add much to the music classroom, the addition of those types of music are not included in this study.

Summary of the literature. A link between the philosophies of Maslow (1962) and

Csikszentmihalyi (1990) through the expansion of transformational learning theory in subsequent years provided an explanation of the development of belongingness, flow, attunement, and identity and musical identity as a byproduct of ensemble membership. The literature provided an insight into the roles that mindfulness, consciousness, and practice play into the development of

a self-aware individual. A connection was found in the second wave of transformational theory that was more inclusive of differing ways to learn as a practitioner of performing arts, specifically orchestral music.

Review of Methodological Issues

The goal of this study is to identify elements in the high school musical ensemble classroom that enhance the community and create a home away from home. To accomplish this a phenomenological study was designed to identify common themes as reported by a small group of highly accomplished teachers of high school musical ensembles. Moustakas (1994), who compared transcendental phenomenology to empirical phenomenology, asserted that a fundamental difference is that in transcendental studies:

the emphasis on intuition, imagination, and universal structures in obtaining a picture of

the dynamics that underlay the experience, account for, and provide an understanding of

how it is that particular perceptions, feelings, thoughts, and sensual awareness are evoked

in consciousness with reference to a specific experience such as jealousy, anger or joy.

(p. 22)

This approach is consistent with my desire to explore the whole person in the context of the high school music room. I also found this to be consistent with Yacek’s (2017) recommendation for studies about transformation:

If our aim…is to understand the nature of transformative experience and its role in the

educational process, we should begin, not by stating the anthropological structure of

transformation, but by mapping the field of experience traced out by the idea. Instead of

resolving the original question “What does it mean to undergo a transformation?” into

“What is a transformation?” we should ask the phenomenologically sensitive question:

“What is it like to experience a transformation?” (p. 19)

This emphasis on experience was a match for Moustakas's (1990) concept of heuristic phenomenology.

The methods and procedures outlined by Moustakas (1994) included discovering a topic and question “rooted in autobiographical meanings and values, as well as involving social meanings and significance” (p. 103). The question was the beginning point for the study, followed by a comprehensive study of the professional literature. The next step was to devise criteria for the selection of the subjects or coresearchers.

The South Carolina Music Educator’s Association (SCMEA), under the auspices of the

National Association for Music Education (NAfME), provided a pool from which to identify potential participants. Through this association, a small group of highly accomplished teachers was identified to serve as coresearchers. Coresearchers were informed of the intent of the study and received assurances of following all required procedures to conform to ethical guidelines.

Next, a set of questions were developed to guide the study. Personal interviews were conducted and recorded, with follow-up interviews as necessary. Interviews were transcribed and submitted to qualitative analysis software for recurrent themes. Then significant statements were taken and grouped into thematic clusters. Describing what happened, and how it happened, a complete analysis of data was sent to coresearchers for validation of data. The summary of the entire study according to Moustakas (1994) should include differentiating results from what was previously known, recommendations for future research, implications for personal and professional directions, and a summary which includes “professional and personal views and the

strengths and inspirations . . . derived” (p. 175). Creswell (2013) offered suggestions for the manuscript format for phenomenological research.

The professional literature on the topic of classroom environment utilizes different methodologies. Learning climate inventories employ student and teacher responses to questionnaires. These studies were accomplished by accumulating, validating, and analyzing quantitative data. These tools are useful for teacher action research such as that taken on by

Aldridge et al. (2012). However, the instruments are intended for a generalized classroom setting and do not touch on many of the experiences of the high school musician. While some theories about classroom climate existed at the time of these questionnaire’s creation, there are currently no theories about the social atmosphere of the music room. To develop an instrument for a musical setting, identification of relevant dimensions should occur through a phenomenological study targeting these aspects. At this time, the researcher believes deriving this information from the top practitioners in the field who are more focused on students from multiple viewpoints would yield the best results.

More recently learning environment assessments have recognized that there are more points of reference than a simple list of characteristics that go into building a climate. Kohl et al.

(2013) referenced four experiences that go into each person’s perception: an individual’s immediate understanding of life, the different settings an individual lives in, the community), and the culture, politics, and economics of a place, and contains all the previous levels. Additionally,

Morin et al. (2014) determined that there was a need to evaluate whether school, classroom or teacher characteristics contribute to the prediction of students’ outcomes (e.g., achievement, self- concept, engagement, persistence). The factors of levels of influence are a factor of consideration in the study.

Synthesis of Research Findings

A survey of classroom environment inventories is a place to collect dimensions that contribute to a positive learning environment in a generalized classroom setting. Quantitative analysis by students and teachers of perceived and preferred classroom environments has received study since the late 1960’s (Aldridge et al., 2012; Allodi, 2010; Fraser, 1981, 1998;

Fraser et al., 1982; Kohl et al., 2013; Moos, 1979; Morin et al., 2014; Walberg, 1979; Walberg et al., 1968). From these studies are found a glossary of positive classroom attributes. Many terms are significant aspects of the high school musical ensemble. However, dimensions such as differentiation and rules clarity do not begin to describe the transformational qualities that make the music room a place in which students feel comfortable, to the point of defining the environment like home or family.

Therefore it is essential to look at theories of transformational learning and positive psychology to hypothesize other factors that may be contributors to the music room climate not found in the general classroom. The theory of Maslow (1962, 1970a, 1970b) regarding the hierarchy of human needs form the basis of many of the aspects of positive psychology.

Baumeister and Leary (1995) contended belongingness involved safety, care, and consistency in relationships. Students seek and find in the ensemble a fulfillment of Maslow’s second and third levels while experiencing belonging to friends, family, and community. Seligman’s signposts of happiness: positive emotion, engagement, meaning, positive relationships, and accomplishment find a place in Maslow’s third, fourth, and fifth levels. Csikszentmihalyi (1990, 2000, 2004,

2023, 2024a, 2014b) and Maslow (1962, 1970a, 1970b) share common ground in the apex experience of flow, which creates the sense of identity found in the self-actualization pinnacle of

Maslow’s hierarchy.

It is not a simple task to identify the transformative experiences that take place in the music room. Positive psychology converges with the same concepts occurring under different banners. These are not the dimensions found in teacher evaluative checklists of classroom climate, yet is something seen in the music room, drawing students to feel at home. Shared experiences of accomplished teachers of music open the door for reflection by many teachers who seek to teach the entire young adult.

Critique of Previous Research

There is a significant gap in the literature regarding climate studies and survey instruments for the music classroom. Diverse studies are present in the prior literature, however music is not found among them. Peer-reviewed journals published the most significant percentage of sources used to date. A basic vocabulary has been in use in the environment evaluations of general classroom settings for 20 to 40 years. A review of quantitative studies sought verification of the validity of classroom environment inventories. Whenever possible, the first source of information in the literature was referenced regarding the development of classroom environment inventories.

Adderly et al. (2003) used references from authors writing from the perspective of various genres of performing ensembles. Due to intrinsic differences between vocal and instrumental practices, and also between wind and strings practices, the research limiting is to the realm of the string orchestra to focus the study. Rzonsa (2016) limited his narrative study to orchestral musicians. Due to the availability of strings teachers because of professional connections, this delineation was a good fit for this study. Additionaly, Adderly et al. (2003) used only 60 students, 20 each belonging to the band, chorus, and orchestra. These students were from a large, economically advantaged high school in the Northeastern United States. The

researcher does not know how these students are representative of the broader population. For this reason, the researcher used teachers as participants for the phenomenological research of transformational learning climates who represent a diverse demographic of accomplished teachers.

Summary

Since the late 1960s, researchers have tested classroom environment inventory instruments in the general education classes. These results, however, read similar to the terms on a teacher evaluation score sheet. The long-term relationship the student musician develops with the teacher and classmates throughout the four years of high school orchestra tends to foster a deeper level of comfort than that which is quantitatively measured.

Developments in transformational learning theory, positive psycholog, and surrounding theories such as belongingness theory, flow, attunement, and identity development have a connection to Maslow’s (1962) hierarchy of human needs as a means to approach self- actualization. This review of literature, which develops a unique relationship with these four aspects of positive psychology and Maslow’s theory bears further investigation leading to the question of which transformational dimensions in the classroom apply to the evaluation of the music room environment. The literature indicated there is not currently a vocabulary of dimensions that contribute to the transformational aspects of the learning climate in a high school orchestra classroom.

Chapter 3: Methodology

The high school orchestral student gravitates toward the music classroom. Treating the music room as a home-away-from-home, students will gather before school, during lunch, and after school. When queried, the high school student may attribute the draw to convenience, friends, or the music. An adult may offer more self-reflective answers, linking to the attainment of some higher levels of Maslow’s (1962) hierarchy, naming “self-actualization, self-realization, integration, psychological health, individuation, autonomy, creativity, [and] productivity” (loc.

2133). Each of these components relates to the reflective qualities necessary for transformative learning outlined by Mezirow (1991). During this process, the adult learner calls into question previously held suppositions to revise one’s worldview. Aspects of positive psychology

(Csikszentmihalyi, 2013; Hallowell, 2011; Rzonsa, 2016; Seligman, 2011) and participation in musical traditions and rituals (Morrison, 2001; Nettl, 1995) are proposed as factors that may foster these transformations.

Research Questions

The central research questions of this study focused on the identification of qualities of transformational learning that are perceived to be present in the high school orchestra classroom.